You must own & occupy the property by December 1st of the current year AND

Applications are due by December 15th of the current year to receive the homestead benefit for the following year’s property taxes.

You must be a Minnesota resident to qualify for homestead.

Your driver’s license must reflect the address where you reside. If it doesn’t, you must update and provide a copy of the renewal with your application. MN Statute 171.11 requires MN residents to update their driver’s license within 30 days of changing their name or address.

All occupants, owners & their spouses must sign the application and provide their Social Security Numbers (SSNs). SSNs are used by the MN Department of Revenue to verify you are not receiving homestead elsewhere in Minnesota.

Class 1b provides a reduced class rate for homestead property of any person who qualifies as blind or as permanently and totally disabled. The Class 1b blind/disabled homestead is different than other homesteads because the qualification is specific to a person (and the disabling condition), rather than being predicated on the use of the property. As a result, 1b homestead classification follows the blind/disabled individual from one property to another. Class 1b is not an exemption from property taxes; it is a reduction in taxes.

Contact the Assessor's Office for more information on the 1b Blind/Disabled Homestead program.

The Disabled Veterans Market Value Exclusion program provides property tax relief to disable veterans with service-connected disability ratings of 70% or greater, as determined by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The program excludes up to $150,000 or $300,000 from taxation, dependent on the veteran's disability rating. Once enrolled in the program, surviving spouses of qualifying veterans may also qualify to continue to receive the same value exclusion for up to 8 years after the death of the veteran.

Special Agricultural Homestead (also referred to as "Actively-Engaged in Farming") allows non-contiguous parcels of productive farmland to be linked to the owners' agricultural homestead under certain circumstances. Some of the requirements include:

The owner must live within four cities, townships, or combination thereof

The owner (or qualifying person or relative) must actively farm the land (or be actively engaged in the farming)

The owner must be a MN resident

The owner must have no other ag homesteads in MN

The agricultural parcels must be at least 40 acres (or correctional 40’s)

Because every situation is unique, there are multiple applications for the varying possible scenarios in the Document Center. Please contact the Assessor's Office for more specific information.

2c Managed Forest Lands

A tax relief program for large tracts of forested property, providing a 35% tax reduction on qualifying acres. Applications for this program are due before May 1 annually to be effective for the current assessment/following year's taxes.

The property must be no less than 20 acres (excluding any structure sites)

Total enrolled acreage is limited to 1,920 acres statewide.

The property must also be managed under a qualifying forest management plan that was developed by a DNR approved forest management plan writer within the last ten years and covering at least 20.00 acres.

Property owners can receive $7 for each acre of qualifying forest land they enroll in SFIA. In return, they agree not to develop the land and to follow a forest management plan while they are in the program. All enrolled land must remain in SFIA for at least eight years. Application is made directly to the MN Department of Revenue. (Unlike 2c Managed Forest Lands, this is NOT a county-administered program.)

What properties qualify for SFIA? Qualifying properties must:

Be current on property taxes

Have 20 or more contiguous acres

Be at least 50 percent forest land as defined in Minnesota Statutes 88.01, subd. 7

Have a forest management plan in place

Have an agreement (“covenant”) in place limiting the property’s use to forest management activities.

Further, qualifying properties cannot:

Be classified as 2c Managed Forest Land by the assessor or enrolled in:

Under this deferral program, the property taxes on newly platted land are phased in over a seven year phase-in period until the taxable value reaches 100% of estimated market value. This phase-in period expires when the developer sells the property or it is improved with a structure.

Property Tax Exemption - Purely Public Charity

Insitutions of Purely Public Charity may qualify for property tax exemption. The County Assessor reviews and approves/denies all exempt applications. Contact the Assessor's Office for more information.